Jnanpith Award 2008 presented to Urdu poet Shaheryar

Legendary Urdu poet and academician Prof Shaheryar was presented India’s highest literary honour — the Jnanpith Award — for the year 2008. Shahryar was born in 1936 in a Muslim Rajput family in Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly district. His poetry strongly expresses an “ideological commitment”. His actual name is Akhlaq Mohammed Khan and ‘Shaheryar’ is his pen name. He received his early education at Bulandshahr and later studied at Aligarh Muslim University. He received Sahitya Academy Award in 1987 for the collection of poetry “Khwab ka Dar Band Hai”. In the form of songs in ‘Fasle’, ‘Anjuman’, ‘Gaman’ and ‘Umrao Jaan’, Shaheryar has given unique gift to the film industry.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2011